Showing up in the political arena as a disciple of Jesus

Political polarization affects every aspect of culture, but it hits closest to home when our houses of faith are divided. Most faith leaders–pastors, priests, and even small group leaders — seek to preserve unity in the Body of Christ, but many believers, including myself, struggle to prioritize our connections as strongly as our convictions. 

When the zero-sum game mentality of partisan politics infects the Church, the unity Jesus calls us to ceases to be part of the equation. The tension and division are stressful and crippling — so much so that more pastors than ever are resigning from their leadership positions. Case in point: a survey recently conducted by the Barna Group found that 38% of faith leaders who consider leaving the ministry named “current political divisions” as the reason they’ve pondered quitting. Isn’t it high time that stopped being the case?

As a bona fide politico of 20+ years and a follower of Jesus for more than 30, most of my life has been lived at the intersection of politics and faith. From political campaigner to White House staffer, congressional candidate to church board member, I’ve seen the ugly side of politics rear its head both outside and inside the Church. Whenever and wherever it emerges, the political spirit — or in Jesus’ words, “the leaven of Herod” — ushers in a spirit of self-righteousness, anger, and division that erodes our peace and compromises our ability to do the one thing Jesus died to help us get right: love one another. 

I’m so grateful that God opened both my spiritual and natural eyes to recognize the political spirit that raged in me. A few years ago, the Holy Spirit convicted me of engaging in partisan politics as a blood sport, rather than as a disciple of Christ. I realized that the way I “did” politics created division that hurt, rather than helped, the Church and our nation. Rather than standing for Kingdom principles, I fell for partisan politics, which fueled division in our pews and polling stations. Looking for answers, I turned to Scripture to learn how I could do better, and Jesus gave me a new framework for engaging in politics: with love, compassion, and respect — and without ever compromising truth.

This framework is rooted in Scripture’s principles for walking in love with our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when we disagree. We all know how easy it is to love those who love and agree with us — as Jesus said, even the tax collectors and pagans did that well (Matthew 5:46-7). Loving those we disagree with, however, is far more difficult, and in the middle of a heated election season, feels nearly impossible sometimes. Nevertheless, Jesus proved that it can be done, and empowered us to do so, which is why he commanded us to “be perfect” in our love for all, including our “enemies” (Matthew 5:48).

Many in the Church have argued that being truthful is being loving. But if the two concepts were one and the same, Jesus wouldn’t have commanded us to speak the truth in love; doing so would have made it a redundant and nonsensical statement. 

Love cannot exist apart from the truth, but truth can exist apart from love, which is why Jesus was so clear in His instructions to us. Scripture defines what love is, so that we don’t have to make up a definition of our own: love is patient, kind, neither envious, boastful nor proud, honoring, not self-seeking, and not easily angered (1 Cor 13:4-5). But how many of these terms apply to the way we speak to and treat each other when we’re engaged in a political argument? 

Very few of them did for me — a lifelong Christian who claimed to love my enemies. Instead of treating them the way Scripture instructed me to, I justified how I engaged those I disagreed with by asserting that I was “fighting for righteousness and truth,” as though godly ends justified ungodly means. But Jesus never calls us to sacrifice our character or love, to achieve an outcome that only He can bring about in another’s heart. Our top priority as followers of Christ is to speak the truth in love; and the harder the truths we speak, the more love we must bring into our conversations. 

This all sounds great in theory but putting it to practice is more important to God. My goal, as a Christian who is also a civically engaged citizen, campaign operative, and political commentator who gets paid to argue with people on TV, isn’t to simply espouse these principles, but to express them in my daily life. My goal is to please the Lord and leverage the influence he’s given me by showing love, rather than contempt, for those I disagree with. Doing so makes me more effective in conveying my deeply held convictions while making others feel loved and valued by God — a win-win if ever there was one.

To that end, here are three practical ways that I practice walking out Jesus’s commandment to love my “enemies” in the political arena:

First, by reminding myself that the person I disagree with is loved, cherished, and valued by God. If I put on my evangelistic hat and think of them as I would anyone in the mission field, I am able to view those I disagree with through the lens of grace and love, making it far easier to be gracious and loving towards them no matter how far apart we are on the political spectrum.

Second, by seeking to understand why others believe what they do. Every individual has different experiences that shape their perspectives and beliefs. Only those that square with Scripture are worth adhering to, but all of us have blind spots in our understanding of God’s truth. Asking sincere questions about why people feel the way they do helps us better understand what actually motivates them and fills in gaps in our own understanding of the world. 

Third, by asking God’s help in remaining unoffended, as well as in being unoffensive toward others. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:7, that offense is unavoidable, but declares “woe” upon those through whom it comes. By God’s grace can we avoid setting and falling into the trap of offense, but only if we remain on guard against the Enemy whose primary mission is to divide and conquer the Church.

There are myriad ways to apply the principles I’ve written about in my book, Politics for People Who Hate Politics: How to Engage without Losing Your Friends or Selling Your Soul. My hope is that every lesson I’ve learned provides insight and practical tools for followers of Jesus — including faith leaders shepherding their people — to reject doing “politics as usual,” and embrace the Lord’s calling to be salt and light in this world. 

There is a better way to do politics; one that focuses on what unites rather than divides us, loves in the midst of disagreement, and shows the world that unity in spirit does not require conformity or compromise. Jesus showed us how to engage in every cultural realm including politics, and it’s time for the Church to lead by following His example.